


Forgive Me

by orphan_account



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Childhood Friends, Criminal Castiel, Detective Dean Winchester, M/M, Neighbors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-04
Updated: 2015-02-04
Packaged: 2018-03-10 10:15:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3286604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Come say hi to me on <a href="http://www.treacherouscas.tumblr.com">tumblr</a>. :)</p></blockquote>





	Forgive Me

_Hello, Dean._

Dean read the words over and over again before finally throwing the evidence bag into the box and leaning back on his chair.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was a simple, handwritten note left at the bank he and Victor had been called in this morning and yet Dean couldn’t get over it. It’s true, anyone could have written it but he knew exactly who that handwriting belonged to and he wasn’t ready to admit the impact the words had on him.

It was supposed to be easy, just another bank robbery; they would check the cameras, talk to the hostages, call a sketch artist and get to the end of it. Instead, he was welcomed inside the building with one of the cashiers handing him a neatly folded piece of paper that nearly slipped between his gloved fingers when his eyes focused on it.

“Do you know who left this?” Victor had asked when he read it too.

“No.” Dean lied.

***

“Dean?” Mary called from the bottom of the stairs and heard her five year old son running towards her. “What have I said about running?”

“Sorry, mom…” He toyed with the cape of his Batman figure.

“Let’s say hi to the new neighbors.” She smiled sweetly and Dean followed her excitedly as she handed him a plate of cookies and picked up Sam from the baby chair. “Is Batman coming with us?”

“Can we take him?” Mary nodded, not being able to resist the glint in Dean’s eyes, and took the action figure in her free hand.

The house next to theirs was light blue with a garden ready to become colorful around it. The door was open and a few items of furniture were still waiting to be carried inside. Mary rang the doorbell and a redhead woman came to greet them, followed closely by a boy Dean’s age.

“Yes?”

“Hi, I’m Mary. These are Sam and Dean.” She pointed at each one of them. “We live next door and thought we’d come here and welcome you to the neighborhood.”

“With cookies!” Dean passed the plate over.

“That’s very sweet of you.” She smiled. “I’m Anna and this is Castiel.” She put a hand on top of the little boy who was now hiding behind her legs. “My husband, Michael, is upstairs. I would invite you in but everything is still so out of place…”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I just wanted to make sure you know we’re here if you need us.”

“Thank you, Mary, moving to a different house can be very strange.” She sighed and looked down at Castiel, caressing his dark hair. “This little bird will need a friend close to home.”

“You can have my Batman if you want.” Dean addressed a very confused Castiel; he wasn’t used to other kids talking to him. “He’ll protect you.” He took the toy from his mom’s hand and gave it to the little boy staring at him with wide blue eyes.

“Are you sure?” Castiel held Batman to his chest.

“Yeah, Cas.” He smiled and Castiel’s lips quirked up a bit.

“Thank you, Dean.”

***

_I see you, Dean._

“Are you sure you don’t know who this is?” Victor asked at their second bank robbery, only two days after the first.

“I’m telling you, man, I have no idea.” Dean shook his head and moved onto the hostages’ statements for a distraction.

_He had these… blue eyes, I-I don’t know, it’s like I was trapped in them._

_He was very calm, it didn’t look like he was robbing a bank._

_He had his eyes on us all the time, like a hawk ready to kill._

_It was one of the most intense experiences in my life._

Dean sighed and threw the folder across the table with more force than necessary. “There’s nothing in here.”

“Yeah and the scene is clean. No handprints, no shoeprints, no fibers, cameras weren’t working, nothing. This guy is good.”

“We’ll get him.” Dean tried to ignore the part of him wishing they didn’t.

***

“Hey, Cas?” Dean asked one evening as they did their homework together in his room.

“Yes, Dean?” Castiel put his pencil down to look at his best friend.

“What if…” He fiddled with the eraser on his own pencil. “What if I told you I like you? Not in a friend way?”

Castiel was silent for too long after that so Dean ventured to look up. His blue eyes were focused on Dean like never before and there was the hint of a smile on his lips; couldn’t be bad, right?

“Cas?” Dean’s voice was full of a hope he didn’t know he had.

“I suppose I would have to admit to liking you too… Not in a friend way.” Castiel’s cheeks tinged pink and he finally looked down.

Dean reached out to cup Castiel’s cheek – rejoicing when he leaned into the touch – and gently let their lips come together.

***

_Can you catch me, Dean?_

He knew the answer to that one: no. If the lack of evidence wasn’t enough, Dean was sure he would never be able to lock Castiel in a cell; he couldn’t find it in himself to do it.

“I can’t.” He whispered to the piece of paper before setting it on his table again and rubbing his temples.

“Be honest with me, do you know this guy or not?” Shit, he forgot Charlie was sitting right beside him.

“Off the record?” Charlie narrowed her eyes at him.

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.” He confirmed.

“Who is he?” She lowered her voice.

“My biggest regret.” He sighed.

“That bad huh? Ex-boyfriend?” Her tone of voice was sympathetic.

“It’s not that I regret him… I regret not trying harder.” Dean played with the pens on his desk. “His dad sent him to a boarding school when he found out about us and I guess I was too selfish to see I wasn’t the only one hurting.”

“So you broke it off.” He nodded.

“Told him I couldn’t live like that.” Dean pulled a chain from under his shirt with a snort. “Ten years later, I’m still not over it.”

“And now he’s after you.” She eyed the ring rolling around in Dean’s hand.

“I don’t know.”

***

“Happy anniversary, Dean.” Castiel murmured as he rolled their hips together and kissed a trail down Dean’s neck.

“Happy anniversary, Cas.” Came the whispered response as he flipped them over and settled between Castiel’s legs, kissing him again and putting one hand under his shirt.

They didn’t hear it when Castiel’s father put the car in the garage – he wasn’t supposed to be home for another two hours – but they were definitely startled when the bedroom door was burst open and Michael started yelling at them.

The next day, when Castiel was home alone, Dean let himself in through the back door and made his way to the room he had slept in many times over the past twelve years.

“Hey.” He didn’t risk saying more than that.

“Hello, Dean.” Castiel answered from his bed; his eyes were rimmed and his hair even messier than usual.

“When do you go?” He took a step closer, the ring on his finger getting heavier by the second.

“In a few hours.” Castiel silently invited Dean to sit with him; despite his brain telling him not to, Dean did. “Dean, we can-“

“I can’t.” Dean felt his heart shatter at the look in Castiel’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Cas.”

There was a moment of silence when they both tried to imagine what their lives would be like from now on before Dean leaned in and kissed Castiel for the last time.

***

_Have you found another angel, Dean?_

The words echoed around his brain as if Castiel himself had said them to him. Again, the answer was no; Dean didn’t think that would ever change.

He opened his apartment door and took off his shoes before turning on the lights. Pulling his gun from the holster, Dean turned around quickly and pointed it at the intruder.

“Hello, Dean.”

And it would be a lie to say that didn’t making Dean’s chest start aching all over again. Ten years later, those blue eyes remained the same and he wasn’t prepared to see them again. His hands started shaking so he put the gun down next to his keys.

“You don’t have to worry.” Castiel came closer, nearly touching their chests. “I’m unarmed.” He opened his arms. “You can check.”

So Dean did. He started at Castiel’s neck, running his hands on top of and under his arms, allowing them to travel down his torso to the hem of his pants where he used both hands to pull them together.

“I missed you.” Castiel whispered before kissing Dean with all his might.

And God, did Dean miss him too. The heat of Castiel’s body close to his, the softness of his lips and the strength of his hands left him gasping inside the other man’s mouth, overwhelmed.

Everything Dean tried to forget came back with the force of a thousand gunshots but, for once, he was welcoming the pain. When Castiel interlaced their fingers, Dean felt a familiar shape and broke the kiss.

“You still have it.” He whispered, panting.

“I had to make some adaptions as time went by.” Castiel stared at their joined hands, only looking up when Dean cleared his throat; his ring’s twin was hanging off a chain around Dean’s neck. For the first time in a while, his smile was genuine.

Hours later, Castiel drew random patterns with his fingers on Dean’s back as they lied together in bed.

“What was that?” Dean touched a scar on Castiel’s abdomen with his thumb.

“I refused to take a job. The other one is for threatening anyone that went along with it.” Dean closed his eyes and rested his forehead on Castiel’s shoulder.

“I can help you, Cas.”

“I can’t do it, Dean.”

“Why not?” He asked, angrily.

“Because they will come after you.” Castiel replied on the same tone.

“What?” The shock of the words stilled him and made his heart skip a beat.

“My mother is dead, who else do you think is worth these wounds?” He raised his voice like Dean had never seen him do.

“Just…” Dean moved so he could look properly into Castiel’s eyes.

“There is no way out, Dean.” Dean opened his mouth to talk again but was interrupted before he could even start. “And I won’t tell you anything about who they are because I know you will go after them.” He pulled Dean closer to their previous position.

“Are you going to be here when I wake up?” He yawned.

And Dean couldn’t see the sadness in Castiel’s eyes when he answered, “Yes.”

Dean woke up alone in bed, missing the warmth he had gone so long without and kicking himself for believing what had been said to him. He threw his pillow across the room and put his head on his hands, still fighting the tears he was holding for ten years.

Later, when Dean got out of bed, he would find a note on his bedside table saying nothing but,

_Forgive me, Dean._

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi to me on [tumblr](http://www.treacherouscas.tumblr.com). :)


End file.
